fbaudry Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 OK, that's probably be done a thousand time but I couldn't find it in the old topics, and since I was very impressed by the advice given to Poochmad with her biting issue, I thought I'd post here I have had for 4 months now an 8 months old male cocker spaniel. Until I got him he was at the breeders and lived around other dogs in a kennel environment. Ever since I've had him he's been getting extremely excited at the sound of other dogs barking, and gets all hyped up and barks himself. I first thought that was a consequence from his upbringing (all dogs going off at once) and was hoping I'd be able to correct it, but I have failed miserably so far... He absolutely doesn't respond to verbal commands (neither a loud No, or AH AH, or anything else), so I can't even try and get him to do something else (like down, or sit) If he is on the leash, and the other dog barking is close by, it gets even worse, he'll throw himself in all directions, growl and won't respond to physical corrections (firm leash tugs or being grabbed by the scruff) If we are at an offleash park, he will take off in the direction of the dogs barking but will stop before getting to them and either come back, or sit and let the other dog sniff him. He is a bit unsure about other dogs at the moment, he can warm up to some and do zoomies, but most of the time he is not really interested. I should add that the "offending" dog doesn't need to be present, barking on TV is enough to set him off... He is an inside/outside dog, and gets one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening of walk on leash, short training session (sit/down/stay/heel) and free run/play at the park. He is otherwise not noisy (doesn't play bark or bark for attention) but is a really full on (read hyper) little dog who never seems to stop... Any advice from the experts will be very welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 shameless bump i'm sure someone out there can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 control and obedience to break this habit. You definately need to contact a good dog trainer ASAP to give you some one on one help with him then enrole into a good school to give him a weekly structured outing. Cockers can be difficult if they think they're top dog, which he does but they are also a working breed that needs structure, rules, and activities to be happy. As for hyperactivity I would 1) desex him ASAP if he is not a show dog 2) look at his diet 3) work on obedience instead of letting him maniacally run around. He needs to burn off mental energy as well as physical energy. If you can have a look at trainers like Cesar Milan you can grab some great tips there many processed foods contribute to hyperactivity in dogs, what diet is he on? oh and where are the photos? American or English cocker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 control and obedience to break this habit. You definately need to contact a good dog trainer ASAP to give you some one on one help with him then enrole into a good school to give him a weekly structured outing. Cockers can be difficult if they think they're top dog, which he does but they are also a working breed that needs structure, rules, and activities to be happy.As for hyperactivity I would 1) desex him ASAP if he is not a show dog 2) look at his diet 3) work on obedience instead of letting him maniacally run around. He needs to burn off mental energy as well as physical energy. If you can have a look at trainers like Cesar Milan you can grab some great tips there many processed foods contribute to hyperactivity in dogs, what diet is he on? oh and where are the photos? American or English cocker? Thank you Nekhbet! I was really hoping you'd read this, I enjoy reading your posts 1) he is on limited register - I wanted to wait until he was fully grown to have him desexed (wait until his growth plates are closed) and was hoping that I wouldn't need to (desexed cockers tend to grow a woolly coat). I am not sure the hormones are responsible for his hyperactivity, as he seemed to be even worse as a 4 months old pup than now (he seems to be calming down a bit) 2) Dietwise he is at the moment on 70% commercial food (Royal Canin puppy medium size) - 30% raw (chicken wings, fruit, pulped veggies) I will probably switch him to 100% barf once he is fully grown but didn't want to mess up whilst he was still growing. I have been switching between different brands of commercial food (Nutrience, Origen before it was pulled out, RC) 3) I have been attending weekly general obedience training with him at pet resort (Steve Austin) and he's been sent as well to 2 weeks in house training with them. I try to do a bit of obedience with him every day (10 minutes morning and night), mostly heel / sit-stay / down-stay / recall. He is doing well at that, but if he hears a dog bark he seems to be "possessed" and I can't snap him out of it. No real advice from the training we've been attending re this issue, except the water squirting tip. I think I'm not very patient and he probably feeds on my pissed off state of mind when he barks, which only exacerbates the issue. 4) I would hope he doesn't think he is top dog.... I never had any issue with my other cocker (or any of my previous dogs for that matter) who's always been a dream to have around, placid, people orientated and focused. I make him sit and wait to be released by an "ok" before going through doors in and out of the house, as well as before eating, and he is not allowed on the furniture. I am thinking of starting obedience at the Manly training club this year (it is probably more structured, with different levels to go through), and maybe agility down the track... A newbie at all of this but thought it could be good fun 5) I like Cesar Millan too, and try my best to follow the exercise/discipline/affection routine, but obviously not doing a good job out of it... Attached are a few pics, there are more sitting somewhere in the cocker thread... Thanks again for replying! lots of work ahead for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 already been for 2 weeks in house training? what did they say? Did they get his barking under control? have you tried snapping him out of it with a sealed milo can with a few ball bearings/rocks in it (shake it quickly to make a loud noise) or a loud whistle to snap him out of it? He needs corrections that are effective. Hard when I can't see the dog! Hormones by no means fix the problem - I simply reccomend it as a way to decrease the hormones and severity of hormonal periods. Yes I prefer undesexed until they're a bit older as well Seems to be a lot of people in NSW needing training I better move for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Seems to be a lot of people in NSW needing training I better move for a while I can ship him to you if you're not keen on relocating loud noises do not snap him out of it... nothing seems to, I can have him hanging by the scruff and still carrying on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowysal Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) Um does he bark when inside the house and if so what do you do? Does he like being in the house? We have just had remarkable results this week with one of our dogs in regard to this. Every time she barks we simply do not react or say anything at all just grab her collar and quickly and without fuss - put her out . Every single time. 24 hrs later she was getting the message and now less than a week later she has stopped 95% of the barking. It works on the premise of her NOT getting a reaction - either good or bad from us and after all - thats what they want . the instant you respond in anyway is payment for them. We spent the money and sought professional help for this and a couple of other issues and like you , we have always had dogs , I have always trained them very effectively many to work. Weve always been complimented on how well trained and behaved our dogs are BUT the present two have, like I say, some issues. Rather than let them fester and become unpleasant to live with we chose to get a professional to help us.It is an option I recommend. We are seeing remarkable results very quickly, if your willing to put in the work and commit to a program then its worth it. Edited January 22, 2009 by Snowysal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySoaringMagpie Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 1) he is on limited register - I wanted to wait until he was fully grown to have him desexed (wait until his growth plates are closed) and was hoping that I wouldn't need to (desexed cockers tend to grow a woolly coat). I am not sure the hormones are responsible for his hyperactivity, as he seemed to be even worse as a 4 months old pup than now (he seems to be calming down a bit)5) I like Cesar Millan too, and try my best to follow the exercise/discipline/affection routine, but obviously not doing a good job out of it... I don't think hard exercise of the kind Millan advocates is a good idea for a growing dog, if you're not going to desex because of growth plates, then over-exercising is also an issue for you. And from what you've described, you're walking more than enough for a growing dog already. I would increase the mental exercise instead, start teaching tricks and playing find it games and otherwise giving the little bugger something to think about, it should take the edge of the hyper. The kind of thing SnowySal talks about is the kind of thing that has worked in our household. "Barking" back at the dog by yelling is just reinforcement. But you need to understand a bit better what your specific circumstances are and how the dog is reacting. So I think you probably need a pro still but don't be afraid to try a different pro if the one you've tried hasn't worked out. Has someone visited you at your home and watched him react to the TV? Does he get opportunities to interact appropriately with other dogs so that he can be reinforced for calm behaviour around dogs? Another thing I would do is work on self-control exercises - you're already doing stays but leave its and go to your mat and other things like that are worth doing. Finally, adolescent dogs, particularly males, mostly come in one variety: annoying. Some of the OTT behaviour drops when they get that second brain cell at aged 2 y/o. We have a puppy barker and she has gotten better just through us being careful not to reinforce her barking. She's not a model dog, and she still barks, but she's getting there and she's just a 7 month old so she has plenty of time to wise up and settle down. If the behaviour was getting worse I'd be worried, but it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Um does he bark when inside the house and if so what do you do? Does he like being in the house? We have just had remarkable results this week with one of our dogs in regard to this. Every time she barks we simply do not react or say anything at all just grab her collar and quickly and without fuss - put her out . Every single time. 24 hrs later she was getting the message and now less than a week later she has stopped 95% of the barking. It works on the premise of her NOT getting a reaction - either good or bad from us and after all - thats what they want . the instant you respond in anyway is payment for them. We spent the money and sought professional help for this and a couple of other issues and like you , we have always had dogs , I have always trained them very effectively many to work. Weve always been complimented on how well trained and behaved our dogs are BUT the present two have, like I say, some issues. Rather than let them fester and become unpleasant to live with we chose to get a professional to help us.It is an option I recommend. We are seeing remarkable results very quickly, if your willing to put in the work and commit to a program then its worth it. He likes being in the house, and is inside with us most of the time when we're home. As I said before he doesn't bark for attention or in play, only if he hears another dog barking. That can be on the TV, radio or even us pretenting to bark. When we first got him he would start barking if one of us (or the other dog) coughed! He has now figured that we do not mean to bark and ignores this. However he still gets hyped us when he hears barking. He will run around, ears pricked and tail up and bark and completely ignore any outside stimulus (be it a loud noise or a physical correction). If he is on the leash, he'll start lunging, spinning and barking and nowadays I often end up grabbing him by the scruff and have him hanging in there if a barking dog walks past us for example. Sounds like I will have to find a professional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 ooooh I'll take a cocker for a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 ooooh I'll take a cocker for a week shall i book DHL for tomorrow ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 sure just make sure you punch a few holes in the box its getting warm down here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) Nekhbet, the pup was brought up in a kennel enviornment before coming to live with Fbaurdy. Could that be a cause to why he is behaving like he is (reacting to dog's barking) and that it's a learned behaviour, or am I completely off track? Edited January 23, 2009 by poochmad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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